[Avodah] logic

[Eli Turkel via Avodah]

> A heap is not rigorously defined.  Nor is a crumb.  Half a crumb is a
> crumb.  The only things that aren't binary in the sense you seem to be
> using the word are linguistic constructs.  Real things have attributes that
> can be defined rigorously.  Vague language does not equal the thing being
> described.

Almost everything in physics (quantum mechanics being an exception) is a
continuum not discrete and certainly not binary

[Email #2, a correction. -micha]

Correction to my post - Even quantum mechanics is not really discrete as it
is a probability function.

However returning to Lisa's comments: "The examples you give only exists
as artifacts of vague language."
Basically everything real is an artifact of vague language

A specific example is the definition of a Rasha. Rambam defines a Rasha
as someone who has more sins
and a tzaddik is one who has more mitzvot and a benoni is in the middle,
This definition is very strange.
First the chances of sins and mitzvot being exactly equal (given any set of
weighting for them) is essentially zero.
More important for our discussion I would suggest there is no such thing
as a rasha. One can be or less a rasha and more a less a tzaddik. It is
a continuum
There is no excluded middle (even with benoni as a third choice).

Many others have therefore used different definitions than the Rambam which
indeed depend on ones direction
rather than any absolute definition

-- 
Eli Turkel